Big Financial Guns Aim To Kill Oak Park`s Ban

October 22, 1985|By Ray Gibson.

Campaign finance reports filed Monday by groups battling over a proposal to repeal Oak Park`s controversial handgun ban show that more than half of the $36,000 contributed to opponents of the ban has come from the nation`s gun lobby.

The reports, filed by the Oak Park Citizen Committee for Handgun Control and the Oak Park Freedom Committee, show that, since July 1, 1984, the two groups have raised about $45,000 to finance their campaigns in the upcoming Nov. 5 referendum.

That means that the west suburban fight is shaping up to be even more costly than the state`s only other battle over such a law. Last spring, Arlington Heights voters defeated a proposal to ban handguns in an advisory referendum in a battle in which $22,000 was spent.

In recent public debates on the ban, proponents of the handgun ban have been sharply critical of the gun lobby`s support of the Freedom Committee.

The Freedom Committee report shows that of the $36,000 in donations it had received since July 1, 1984, about $14,500 came from the National Rifle Association`s Institute for Legislative Action. The NRA group also gave the committee $4,000 earlier in 1984.

In addition, other gun groups, such as Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, have donated $4,500 since July 1, 1984.

James Zangrilli, the Freedom Committee`s treasurer, declined to answer questions Monday on the report unless they were in writing.

The Committee for Handgun Control, which has not filed any reports previously, disclosed that it had raised $9,181. Alice Possley, the committee`s treasurer, said the money came from 278 donors, all except six of whom were from Oak Park.

``We are proud of the fact that we have collected all the money from Oak Park residents, and it shows they support the ban,`` Possley said.

Under state law, only donors who give more than $150 must be listed on the reports. The Committee for Handgun Control said it had only seven contributions of $150 or more. Among those donations was $1,000 from Maureen Piszczor, the widow of attorney James Piszczor, who was fatally shot in a Daley Center courtroom two years ago. His death prompted calls for enactment of the handgun law.

Oak Park`s referendum will be the first time residents in any of the three municipalities in the nation with handgun bans have been asked to repeal their ban. The three municipalities--Oak Park, Evanston and Morton Grove--are all in the Chicago area.

Monday was the deadline for filing such financial reports with the Cook County clerk`s office.